The VGBees Podcast

This week, John and Niki are joined by Jesse Vitelli, fresh off a five day subathon on his Twitch channel after being laid off at Restart.Run. Together, they take a hard look at Matt Karch's history of odd behavior, Netflix's most recent studio closures, and Star Wars Zero Company.

00:00:00 Intro & Raising Cane's talk

00:11:25 Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch did something very weird and has done many weird things previously to this new weird thing

00:34:14 Netflix closes Night School, Moonloot, and lays off others

00:41:35 Restart.Run's remaining leadership releases a bizarre...

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss their very enjoyable time together with Big Walk, Devolver Digital's move off of the London Stock Exchange, and Netflix's incredibly bizarre six hour rental of Grand Theft Auto VI's deeper dive trailer later this month.

00:00:00 Intro & laundry hamper talk

00:14:30 Netflix's Grand Theft Auto VI "exclusive" look

00:47:26 EA's big deal with the Saudis and Jared Kushner closed

01:12:30 Halo Studios parts ways with contractors

01:20:32 Devolver Digital moves to unlist from London Stock Exchange to go private

01:33:30 Square Enix is collaborating with Google...

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss Xbox's 7% revenue decrease year over year, Tencent's alleged "Grand Theft Auto killer" Last Sentinel facing major problems, and impressions of one of 2026's most pleasant surprises, Splatoon Raiders.

00:00:00 Intro & drug testing

00:08:35 Double Fine lays off 23 after going independent

00:13:07 Xbox reports $1.7b loss due to critical business failures

00:17:07 Tencent's Last Sentinel quietly lays off staff, possibly canceled

00:32:50 Super Mario Sunshine coming to Nintendo Switch Online

00:38:55 Splatoon Raiders is what Splatoon probably should've always been

00:54:25 Endacopia is a surrealist point-and-click...

This week, John, Lotus, and Niki discuss the Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls open beta, Unity 7's announcement and features, EA's approved sale to the PIF, and Deltarune Chapter 5.

00:00:00 Intro & some strong Splatoon opinions

00:21:35 Hasbro cancels projects slated for 2028 and beyond

00:26:58 EU approves EA sale to the PIF

00:33:30 Unity 7 announced with some interesting new features in tow

00:42:35 Poinpy is free now and is still great

00:45:08 Hey, Left 4 Dead 2 is still really great, too

00:52:20 Paragnosia is like Five Nights at Freddy's but in a house with demons<...

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John discuss the extremely convenient news dump regarding beloved games in the Fallout franchise, other Xbox teams facing decimation in the initial layoffs, and the God of War show's choice to recast its Kratos.

00:00:00 Intro, new dog, blood stuff, & kidneys

00:22:53 Latin America ID@Xbox teams decimated by layoffs

00:32:48 Inside look at Xbox layoffs from people experiencing it

00:33:48 Fallout deluge of information to distract people from the layoffs

00:46:18 CWA files lawsuits alleging Xbox mishandling of layoffs

00:49:50 College Football 27 removes microtransactions from single player...

Last year, we chatted with Joe from hit YouTube channel Joe Is Hungry. Now that we have this fun new interview format show officially on the feed, I decided it was time to have him back on!

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:33 Joe's wife still plays games

00:02:50 Why do gaming communities seem to gravitate toward Joe?

00:08:10 Does Joe keep tabs on other food reviewers?

00:11:50 What does attention from other channels do for Joe?

00:13:18 How does Joe keep up with the algorithm and how does he engage with AI?

00:17:20 TikTok...

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John address the sweeping, disastrous layoffs and closures stemming from the "reset" Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has started.

00:00:00 Intro & Cup Talk

00:11:40 Xbox layoffs by the numbers

00:14:55 Id Software decimated by the moves

00:18:52 Obsidian loses staff and shifts focus to Fallout (a previous report that Avowed 2 has been canceled has been refuted by the developer since this recording)

00:25:32 Zenimax loses over 350 employees

00:29:11 350 others are left without jobs from divested and sold studios

00:32:47 IOI closes Istanbul studio after Xbox divestment

00:41:18...

Hey! It's a brand new show here on The VGBees Podcast feed. We'll be taking the time every once in a while to sit down and go deep with interesting figures around the games industry and beyond. Our very first guest is Phil Salvador, Library Director of the Video Game History Foundation.

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:05 What is the Video Game History Foundation?

00:03:45 What has surprised Phil the most about the work of games preservation since joining?

00:05:37 What in Phil's life created this fascination with historical preservation?

00:08:11 What's the last thing Phil...

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John dive deep into the end of physical discs for Sony (and likely Xbox), the impending closures of the PS3/Vita digital stores, and the potential for Arkane to be on the Xbox reset chopping block.

00:00:00 Intro & everything you need to know about donuts

00:18:50 Sony stopping disc support in 2028; the gang goes long on the loss of physical games media

01:06:30 Sony is also closing the PS3/Vita stores

01:15:05 IOI to lay off staff on Project Fantasy, which was backed by Xbox

01:21:07 Arkane may be...

This week, John and Niki discuss the biggest news of the gaming week, including Grand Theft Auto VI edition details, Steam Machine details, and more price hikes for Xbox consoles.

00:00:00 Intro & when it became Turkiye

00:12:30 Steam Machine is in the wild and available for waitlisting

00:28:13 Xbox consoles increase in price again

00:33:08 Grand Theft Auto VI isn't on disc and somehow people were shocked

00:46:38 Bungie lays off Destiny 2 team; Hermen Hulst writes bad blog post

01:04:00 Tim Sweeney thinks you owe it to yourself to play his games

This week, John, Niki, and Lotus go very long on this week's seismic Xbox news, including the numerous studio closures on the table, key departures, and Microsoft CEO's Satya Nadella's curious take on why their gaming arm is struggling.

00:00:00 Intro & Lotus' Big Saturday

00:11:10 South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games is the unsurprising yet disappointing first studio to confirm possible closure or spinoff

00:17:00 A long, great conversation about the games media's role in reporting on these layoffs and closures

00:28:00 How Xbox got here (mostly)

00:48:52 Satya Nadella seems to be confused...

Lotus, Niki, and John recovered from Summer Game Fest 2026 and reconvened (in home studios, not John's car) to discuss an extremely busy news week, including Xbox preparing major layoffs, Nintendo Direct revealing the Ocarina of Time remake, and more information dropping about Pokemon Go and its role in data gathering for defense purposes.

00:00:00 Intro & how waffle fries are made

Go to nogamesforgenocide.com to learn more about the BDS movement and Microsoft's continued role in the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

00:08:20 Asha Sharma writes memo to Xbox staff; heavy layoffs reported

00:25:00 Xbox...

Join Niki and John from Los Angeles as they debrief from a lively Summer Game Fest 2026.

At this point, most embargoes were still in effect, but we hope you enjoy discussion regarding:

Thanks for listening!

Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.

VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join

VGBees is a weekly games media...

Folks, our schedules were so packed that John & Niki had to join Lotus from the car again. Sorry! This week, it's all about Summer Game Fest 2026 Showcase, which featured reveals of Resident Evil Veronica, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Tupac appearing in Stranger Than Heaven.

Time stamps and more SGF bonus episodes coming soon!

Thanks for listening!

Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.

VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join

VGBees...

John and Lotus are joined this week by Jeff Gerstmann to discuss the week's biggest games news, including: The Witcher 3's surprising expansion coming in 2027, Steam Deck's massive price hikes, and what we thought of 007 First Light.

00:00:00 Intro & podcasting at yourself

00:08:56 The Witcher 3 is getting new DLC in 2027

00:13:10 A moment for Unreal Engine 6

00:15:57 Ikaruga creator's next game has been canceled

Go to nogamesforgenocide.com to learn more about the BDS movement and Microsoft's continued role in the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

00:19:14 Microsoft must pay $250m to settle...

John, Lotus, and Niki discuss the biggest news of the week, including Embracer's head-scratching restructure, Destiny 2's final update, and PlayStation Plus price hikes.

00:00:00 Intro & Niki Buys a Porsche

00:09:50 Terraria celebrates 15 years of absolutely bonkers player counts

00:25:15 Tom Kane passes away at 64

00:26:41 PlayStation Plus gets price hikes

00:35:47 US National Recording Registry adds DOOM soundtrack to its library

00:44:28 Stig Asmussen Dungeons & Dragons game canceled by Wizards of the Coast

00:55:20 Embracer restructures their game organizations again

01:04:20

Content Warning for graphic medical procedures, assault, sexual assault, suicide, and death in this episode. The Pitt is a show with a lot of tough ingredients thrown into a stew--we try to navigate these with tact and care but be forewarned the entire episode has a lot of potentially triggering discussion.

GameDeveloper.com Editor-in-Chief (and Polygon, Waypoint, and Fanbyte alum) Danielle Riendeau joins John Warren for a recap of season two of The Pitt, one of VGBees' favorite television shows.

Danielle lends her experience as a volunteer EMT in New York City to the duo's...

Lotus and John discuss the biggest games news of the week, including Subnautica 2 creating a big bonus problem for KRAFTON's CEO, leaked Xbox controllers, and Marathon's interesting PVE-focused roadmap.

00:00:00 Intro & Buc-ees Fare

00:10:05 Subnautica 2's massive sales creates an interesting problem for KRAFTON's CEO

00:13:15 Steam Controllers look bad, feel good, and scream when you drop them

00:21:43 Sony takes huge loss on Bungie acquisition; Marathon gets new PVE-heavy roadmap

00:30:20 Wizards and Hasbro fail to recognize the new MTG: Arena union

00:33:25 Double Fine is also unionzing

00:35:35 New Xbox...

Niki, Lotus, and John embark on a "no bummers" episode of the show, complete with discussions about the new Star Fox game, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight's endless charm, and Mina the Hollower's long-awaited release date.

00:00:00 Intro & John's parking lot predicament

00:12:15 Star Fox 64 Remake

00:17:15 Mina the Hollower gets a release date at long last

00:19:16 Copilot removed from Xbox plans (please go to nogamesforgenocide.com to learn about the ongoing boycott of Microsoft and Xbox products)

00:23:53 LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight looks great

00:28:27 More "...

NOTE: This bonus episode contains discussions of medical trauma, sexual assault, addiction, child abuse, mass shootings, and generally some sad stories about real life emergencies. It’s hard to avoid those topics when discussing this television show, so if you need to duck out and catch the next regular bonus, we totally get it.

Additional note! This is a bonus episode of the show from 2025--we're freeing it from the confines of the bonus feed to prepare you for The Pittcast Season 2, which will be available for the public and not just in the bonus feed.

...

Niki, Lotus, and John celebrate 100 episodes and discuss GameStop's potential purchase of eBay, usTwo's CEO saying some wild stuff into a microphone, the final death of Paste Games, and more!

00:00:00 Intros & At Least It's Friday

00:06:05 GameStop could be prepping for an eBay takeover

00:13:50 Saudi Arabia is divesting from some entertainment properties

00:20:36 Atari acquires emulation studio Implicit Conversions

00:24:39 MTG: Arena devs unionize

00:28:48 usTwo CEO speaks way too candidly about labor relations within company

00:39:45 GreedFall dev Spiders being liquidated; mismanagement alleged

00:44:22 GameMaker integrates with Claude...

Lotus & John discuss the lawsuit against Mr. Beast, Xbox Game Pass carving out Call of Duty, Playdate's interesting AI policy, and much more!

VGBees is 100% listener-supported. Join The Hive for bonus content, exclusive Discord access, and input on future content. https://vgbees.com/join

00:00:00 Intro

00:05:46 Mr. Beast sued by former employee

00:13:11 Ludum Dare to "end" in 2028

00:18:10 Playdate to block generative AI asset games; allow generative AI coded games

00:26:55 BAFTA Game Awards pulls trailer of "triggering" game

00:35:48 Sanrio & Toei both form game subsidiaries

00:39:39 Xbox...

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Hi there! Lotus is still in space teaching the aliens about baseball (they like it!), while Niki and John are earthbound to discuss the week's biggest stories in games, including:

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This week, Lotus repaired the toilets aboard the Artemis II on its way safely (!!!!) back to Earth. Niki and John were grounded, however, and came together to discuss the biggest games news of the week. Here's the run of show:

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With Niki on board the Artemis II to fix their Outlook situation, Lotus and John tackle the news and games of the week, including:

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This week, Lotus, Niki, and John contemplate Nintendo's strange (but maybe deliberate) choice to launch Animal Crossing's Switch 2 edition, Pokemon Pokopia, and Tomodachi Life in one tidy two month stretch. Also:

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This week, the crew gets completely redrawn on the fly by Nvidia's new AI-powered technology that everyone besides Digital Foundry seems to hate! How do they look? So lifelike, I bet. While getting yassified (and polluting water sources near data centers!), John, Niki, and Lotus discuss:

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This week, Niki, Lotus, and John played some great games and took a full week off from games news because there just wasn't anything to talk about! What's that? [holds earpiece] I'm being told there was a lot of news this week. Okay. Well. Here's what they talked about, I guess!

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John reconvene to rejoice over what seems like a masterpiece in the Pokémon oeuvre. But first, lots of big news, including:

On this week's show, the crew deals with several major post-scripts from last week's jam-packed news discussion block. Fortunately, Lotus, Niki, and John are joined by certified GOAT Michael Higham to unpack it all.

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This week's show was packed to the gills with discussion-worthy topics and that was before Phil Spencer announced his retirement, Sarah Bond resigned, and Asha Sharma ascended the Xbox throne. From there, Lotus, Niki, and John discussed:

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Folks, this week was VERY jam-packed with discussion-worthy games news and that was BEFORE we even welcomed Game Informer's Charles Harte to the show. Together, Lotus, Niki, John, and Charles discussed:

Sony's State of Play was very busy, as well, including:

This week, the whole gang is back together to discuss the biggest games news of the week, which sometimes wasn't about games at all! Including:

Plus, there was a Nintendo Partner Direct:

With Lotus on the International Space Station this week, John and Niki wasted no time discussing these completely relevant topics:

Okay but they did get down to the most important games news of the week, including:

This week, Niki, John, and Lotus confront the biggest gaming stories of the week, including:

We played:

Also, we answer yo

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John set out to dissect the price sensitivity opus laid out by Peak's devs in an interview with Stephen Totilo. Is eight bucks really five bucks? This and much more, including:

We played:

Also, your burning HIVE QUESTIONS are answered from our lovely

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John are back and ready to tackle the first fresh news of 2026, including:

We played:

Also, your burning HIVE QUESTIONS are answered straight from our lovely Discord.

This week, John, Niki, and Lotus stare down the barrel of a very slow gaming news week, so they tackle some additional stuff, too, including:

We played:

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight...

Note: a better quality audio upload will be available in a couple days.

Hello! Another year has flown by and Niki, Lotus, and John are here to talk about their favorite games and gaming-adjacent things from 2025! Included in the GOTY chat:

Also, the news of the week!

We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our...

This week, Niki treats John and Lotus to the first ever VGBees Podcast Edition of Scam Text Theatre! After this momentous occasion, the crew turns its sights to the biggest news of the week, including: